Satellite imaging by the European Environment Agency (EEA) has shown up dramatic changes in Ireland's land cover, with a 31 per cent increase in the amount given over to housing and other "artificial surfaces" during the 1990s. Frank McDonald, Environment Editor, reports.
The data also found a significant reduction of more than 7 per cent (some 240,000 acres) in the area covered by wetlands, including bogs, a trend described as "depressing" by the EEA's director-general, Dr Jacqueline McGlade.
"We're worried about the wetlands", she said. "What's happening is that conifers are being planted in wetland areas, which is not a great message for protecting ecosystems, and a pretty large chunk has been converted to agriculture."
In an interview with The Irish Times, Dr McGlade said a 35 per cent increase in arable land was largely to provide forage for animals being housed in sheds.
"That's showing a big shift in farming practices." Overall, there was a 4 per cent decrease in pasture land during the 1990s - the bulk of it accounted for "urban residential sprawl" around cities and towns as well as in rural areas which the EEA director said had reached "epidemic" proportions.
"If you look at urban sprawl, it's pasture land that's being given up - nearly 80 per cent. There's also been quite a large increase in sporting and leisure facilities, such as golf courses, which also shows up in the satellite imaging", Dr McGlade said.
Despite renewed tree-planting in recent years, a decrease of 3 per cent in the land covered by forestry was recorded by the EEA during the 1990s.
"Ireland doesn't have a lot of forests, so that's worrying", she commented.
She also warned about the effects of "a tremendous drive here to have car ownership on parity with the rest of Europe" because that would make it even harder to achieve the targets for greenhouse gas emissions under the Kyoto Protocol.
On water quality, although Dr McGlade accepted that 70 per cent of Irish rivers are not polluted, she said it was the remaining 30 per cent that need attention, and she laid most of the blame for polluting these rivers on agriculture.
Referring to environmental reporting, she said Ireland was in the middle of an EEA league table, behind less developed countries such as Latvia, Slovenia, Estonia, Poland and Bulgaria and marginally ahead of France, Italy and Slovakia.
Dr Mary Kelly, director-general of the Environmental Protection Agency, said at least Ireland was in the top half of the league table of 35 European countries.